Council gives its backing to Plan B road routes around Wokingham

Strong feedback from two of the borough’s largest ever consultations has directed council chiefs to opt against technically preferred routes for the North Wokingham Distributor Road and Arborfield Relief Road

‘Crucial’ new roads sweeping north and south of the town have been manoeuvred away from preferred routes after a clear steer from the public.

Strong feedback from two of the borough’s largest ever consultations has directed council chiefs to opt against technically preferred routes for the North Wokingham Distributor Road and Arborfield Relief Road.

The council’s executive rubber-stamped the move and released extra funding for technical studies to refine the routes last Thursday, having reviewed more than 2,700 responses to the consultations last year.

Councillor Keith Baker, executive member for strategic planning and highways, said: “In both cases we are now working on different routes than our consultants’ technical recommendations and that is a direct result of listening to residents and respecting their local knowledge.

“We often hear the complaint that we never listen – we listened here and are acting on what we heard.”

The North Wokingham Distributor Road will cross the north of the town just south of the A329M, supporting more than 1,000 planned homes in a Strategic Development Location (SDL).

An Arborfield Relief Road would bypass Arborfield Cross as hundreds of homes are built at the village garrison SDL.

Around 1,450 people analysed three options for the North Wokingham road, while 1,300 people gave their preference to four Arborfield proposals during the consultations.

The public preferred alternatives labelled as ‘B’ in both cases.

Cllr Baker added: “We are committed to bringing new, high quality infrastructure to the borough at the same time as bringing in the homes we need – so it is vital that we get them right.”

Additional funding of £150,000 per scheme to refine the plans will come from a £2.4 million grant the borough council secured from the Homes and Communities Agency, to help plan and deliver the SDLs.

Concerns over pressure on existing roads as homes are completed in Arborfield resurfaced at the executive meeting as Cllr Baker faced a number of questions on the scheme.

Karen Hughes asked what assurances the highways chief could give the community that the bypass would be built “before there is gridlock” in the village.

Cllr Baker replied: “A planning application for the housing is expected in August this year and the developer is working closely with the council and the community to ensure that issues such as the highway infrastructure are addressed.

“The council’s overriding objective will be to ensure that the highway mitigation minimises any traffic impact to acceptable levels.”